


Ten Minutes

by Squeemu



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Drabble, Fluff without Plot, Kunsel is only tangentially in this, M/M, No Angst, Post-Canon, Zack Fair Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:28:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28242396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squeemu/pseuds/Squeemu
Summary: Cloud'd managed to finish a few more invoices, but there was still a stack of papers on his desk: invoices, bills, upcoming jobs that needed a little bit of planning. Zack was sick of waiting for him to finish the rest. He'd already cleaned the bathroom and started the laundry, and anyway, Cloud had been at this for days. There'd been a lot of work recently, which was great for the delivery business, but it sucked for Cloud. He hadn't been sleeping. Probably wasn't eating. Definitely wasn't cuddling Zack enough.It was time to do something about it.
Relationships: Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Comments: 8
Kudos: 62





	Ten Minutes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SoldatMort](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoldatMort/gifts).



By the time Zack got home that afternoon, Cloud was already working hard on a stack of papers on his desk. Invoices, mostly, a few late bills. Probably a couple of upcoming jobs that needed a little bit of planning. 

"Hey," Zack greeted him, heading over to deliver a smooch right on his cheek. 

Cloud moved his head irritably away, his shoulders somehow even more tense.

And ooookay, today was going to be one of _those_ days, huh. Zack stepped back, holding his hands up. "Got it," he surrendered. "You're working." He shrugged It off and headed into the kitchen to grab some juice. The streets down here were always so dusty. He chugged a few good mouthfuls down before he leaned back, peering over at Cloud, the carton still at his mouth. 

The guy was _miserable_. He was hunched over the table, the stack of papers heavy enough to bend even Cloud's back, an aura of doom and gloom radiating off of him like a coming thunderstorm.

Zack took one last swig of juice and stuck the carton back in the fridge. He had stuff to do besides bother Cloud. It was better to just let him work it out, he knew from long experience. Or, uh. Lots of experience, anyway, all packed into five glorious months of living together.

And anyway, it'd give him the chance to catch up on some chores, maybe finally reply to that email Kunsel'd sent. Or the three emails, more like. 

_Ping!_

He pulled out his phone, glancing at the notifications and—

_Have you even been reading these? I have an update on that grandma you're helping—_

Four emails. Okay. By the time he was done, maybe Cloud would've finished his paperwork and be ready to hang out together. The sooner Zack got started, the sooner they'd be able to chill.

He bounded up the stairs two at a time.

\- - -

Zack finished cleaning the bathroom in record time. (Ten minutes, thirty-three seconds.) 

When Zack peered down the stairs, the stack of papers at Cloud's side did not look appreciably smaller, but his shoulders had hunched even further and the angry thunderstorm crackling off him was even gloomier.

So Zack finished sweeping. Got the laundry going, passing by the thunderstorm Cloud had become on his way to the washer and dryer. Zack snatched a surreptitious glance on his way past the work table. Cloud's to-do pile was definitely shorter, the finished pile a few pages higher. But. It wasn't looking good. 

That was okay. Zack still had some emails to write, and those always took him a while to type up. He sat on the couch, legs drawn up in front of him, his borrowed tablet balanced precariously on top of his knees, and frowned down at the first of Kunsel's email. Did he even need to reply to this? They'd talked since Kunsel sent it. 

He glanced over at Cloud again. Still cranky. Looked back at his tablet and swiped over to the next email. He could answer this one, at least. He got to work, tapping carefully at each letter on the screen. It took a lot of work and he had to delete a bunch of wrong words and wrong letters, but eventually he got to the end of it.

Cloud had finished another invoice, but Zack was sick of waiting for him to finish the rest. He didn't think he was up for doing another email, and anyway, Cloud had been at this for _days._ He'd gotten a lot of work, which was great for his delivery business, but it sucked for Cloud. He hadn't been sleeping. Probably wasn't eating. Definitely wasn't cuddling Zack enough.

It was time to do something about it.

Zack stood up, stretching casually, and opened his mouth. "Cloud—"

“ _What_."

"I'm cold."

Cloud whirled around, his eyes blazing. "So put on a sweater." It was probably the first time he'd stopped glaring at his paperwork all evening. Zack counted it a win. 

"But I'm also lonely," Zack told him.

Cloud rolled his eyes upward in absolute disgust. "I told you to wait."

"I did wait!" Zack told him. "I cleaned the bathroom and did the laundry and—"

"Zack," Cloud said, in that tone that meant if Zack asked him one more question he was going to snap, "I don't care what you did. I just need to finish this."

Zack opened his mouth.

"Go help Tifa. I'm busy."

Zack didn't want to help Tifa. He wanted to help Cloud. "Ten minutes," he said. 

"What?"

"Ten minutes. Cuddling. You, me, the couch. You'll feel better," Zack promised. "And then you'll be able to work even harder after."

Cloud took a slow, steadying breath.

"C'mon, Cloud. Do it. For me?" He tried on his best sad puppy expression, the one that always worked on everyone except Tseng, Sephiroth, and Kunsel. 

Cloud glared at him, but the hard line of his mouth was softening.

"Please?" Zack begged.

He could see Cloud's resistance leave him, his shoulders slumping in defeat. Zack jumped over to the couch, dropping onto it and making himself look as comfy as possible. He patted the small space of couch next to him. "Saved you a spot."

Cloud let out a dark snort. "Some spot."

Okay, it was maybe a little tiny, but, "You're small. You can fit."

Cloud's expression turned outraged. “ _What?_ "

Zack grinned up at him. 

"I'm not small!"

"Sure. But I won't believe you until you come prove me wrong."

That did it. Cloud climbed on top of him, his face coldly furious, and stretched out on top of Zack, elbowing his stomach a little in the process. "Ow!"

"This was your idea," Cloud reminded him.

"This doesn't count as cuddling," Zack informed him.

Cloud muttered something under his breath, sinking down to lay almost entirely on top of Zack. "See?" he said flatly. "I don't fit."

Zack wriggled one arm free, wrapping it around Cloud's back, holding him in place. "No way. You fit perfectly."

Cloud shook his head, burying his face Zack's shoulder. "You're an idiot."

"You're the one dating me," Zack pointed out, reaching up to touch the soft hair at the back of Cloud's neck, brush his fingers through it.

"Shut up," Cloud muttered, his muscles finally relaxing, his whole body melting against Zack, weight pressing solid and comforting against his chest. Cloud was small but he was _heavy_ , all sharp bones and hard muscles and moody grumpiness. But even though it was starting to get a little hard to breathe, it was worth it. Zack moved his fingers up, brushing a few of the spikier strands of Cloud's hair away from his face, tucking them safely back behind one ear. 

Cloud's breath slowed, deepened, and Zack moved his hand, carefully stroking the hair at the back of his head. Cloud made a little noise, shifting to get more comfortable, and nuzzled his head up against Zack's.

His hair was tickling Zack's neck, prickling against his nose, but Zack couldn't move. Not now, when Cloud had finally started to relax. He'd just get tense again, and then Zack would have to start all over.

He wasn't really sure how much time had passed, Cloud pressed warm against his side, when he realized his leg was starting to fall asleep and that Cloud's leg was pressing right against his bladder. Zack needed to move. But—Cloud needed the sleep. If only he could get him into the bed without waking him up. 

It took a lot of squirming and fancy maneuvering to get them both into the right position, but eventually Zack managed to stand up, scooping Cloud into his arms and carrying him over to their mattress, putting him down as gently as he could.

"—unh?" Cloud murmured, rousing.

Oh no he didn't. He was not getting up, not on Zack's watch. So Zack crawled into bed next to him, wrapping an arm over him. "Don't worry about it," Zack told him, trying to keep his voice low. "Nothing's going on. You can sleep."

Cloud sank back into the mattress for a second before rolling over onto his side, taking Zack's arm with him and holding on tight. 

"Mhm," he muttered, but less than a minute later, he'd fallen asleep again, his breath evening out under Zack's arm, the warm arch of his back tucked up against Zack's chest.

Zack couldn't help but stay in bed a few more minutes, curled up around Cloud while his defenses were down, all his sharp edges softened. There was just a little huff to his breath, not quite loud enough to be a snore. Zack carefully pulled his hand free, propping himself up by his elbow. 

Cloud looked peaceful, for once. Zack would've said he looked like an angel, but he'd seen enough of them to know Cloud looked more angelic than the real ones did. Instead of weird extra limbs and broken wings, a golden halo of hair had fallen around his head onto his pillow, his eyes peacefully closed and his lashes curved, mouth pulled into a small, worried frown that didn't look anything like his usual scowl.

Zack shifted, reaching out to smooth the small crease from Cloud's forehead before finally getting up, slowly and carefully backing out of the room and shutting the door behind him. And now that he was up, he had a plan. He was going to finish Cloud's paperwork for him. At least, finish as much of it as he could. He'd gotten pretty good at most of it while he'd been healing up, stuck inside for days and days. He knew what to do.

He took a brief detour into the kitchen for another swig of juice before heading out to the living room and Cloud's cluttered desk. Found the right stack of papers and settled into the work.

He managed to get through it all with minimal juice breaks. By the time Cloud stumbled out of the bedroom, his hair sticking up in an entirely new arrangement of spikes, Zack had moved on to making their dinner. 

"What time is it?" Cloud muttered. He rubbed at the back of his neck, blinking against the light of the kitchen. "I need to get back to work."

"Nope," Zack told him. "You need to sit down on the couch."

"That's not gonna pay the bills."

"Well, you can get back to work if you want," Zack told him, gesturing at his desk, "but the bills are all gone."

“ _What?_ " Cloud stared at him, open-mouthed. "What the hell did you do?"

"Finished them," Zack told him proudly. 

Cloud didn't know what to do with that. 

"So you don't have to be so cranky, now," Zack kept going. "We can eat these sandwiches and watch a movie instead."

"You have one in mind?"

"Yeah," Zack grinned. "You're gonna love this one, Cloud. Kunsel told me all about it." Cloud's eyes narrowed, and Zack ignored him, moving over to the couch with his plate of sandwiches, sitting down and patting the cushion next to him. It took a second, but Cloud eventually came over to sit next to him.

"Kunsel recommended it, huh?"

"Yeah! Because he knew you'd really like it." Zack offered him the plate of sandwiches. "Ready?"

Cloud let out a breath, picking up one of the sandwiches and settling back against the couch. "Fine. But I won't like it."

"Trust me," Zack said, raising an arm so Cloud could get nestle in, and started the movie. 

They watched the movie, finishing off their sandwiches. Cloud was snuggled up against Zack, his eyes intent on the screen, paperwork totally forgotten. Cloud was nice and warm curled up almost on top of him, the couch nice and comfy under him, his tummy nice and comfortably full. And at some point between one gripping action scene and the next, it got too hard to keep his eyes open. He let them close, just for a second, and when he opened them again, the credits had started rolling.

"'s over?" he mumbled, trying to pull his thoughts together.

Cloud looked over at him, a tiny smirk on his face, his chin digging into Zack's chest. "Yep."

"Was it good?"

"Yeah," he admitted grudgingly. "It was—really good, actually."

"Tell me what happened," Zack ordered. Cloud opened his mouth and Zack yawned, suddenly, too loud to hear whatever Cloud was saying. "In bed."

"If you can manage to stay awake that long."

"Hey! I can stay awake!"

Cloud snorted. "I've heard that before." He climbed off the couch, stretching. "Alright. Let's go. Before you fall asleep again."

Zack muttered protests, but he was asleep again before Cloud had gotten halfway through everything he'd missed.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for my very good friend, [LeSoldatMort](https://twitter.com/LeSoldatMort), who was kind enough to share the entire plot of this story with me and then let me write it. <3


End file.
